Blogosphere Outs Judge for Taking BribePosted by Amanda Chapel WOMMA WAMMY: The Latest Blog Fraud
Do you know that this elaborate soft-shoe dance that the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association did regarding the recent Edelman/Wal-Mart blog fraud, was all because Edelman PR is a major funder of the organization? Rick Murray, WOMMA’s Treasurer and member of their Governing Board, also heads the "Me2Revolution," the very Edelman practice responsible for social media. Hmmmm. Here, let me put it more plainly: thief secretly pays off judge; judge gives thief a pass; judge makes broad public announcement of thief’s commitment to ethics; public fooled; judge then assists with the cover up by then frustrating media inquires. On October 18, 2006, WOMMA issued the following: WOMMA STATEMENT ON EDELMAN BLOG DISCLOSURE ISSUE. Quote: "WOMMA has held discussions with top Edelman executives regarding this situation. The company has committed itself to a global training program to ensure that all of its employees and sub-contractors fully adhere to the WOMMA Ethics Code, and to establishing mechanisms to assure compliance. We are assured by Edelman management's public actions to accept full responsibility, pledge to make certain that the error will not be repeated, and again endorse the WOMMA Ethics Code. Mistakes will be made." "HELD DISCUSSIONS WITH TOP EDELMAN EXECUTIVES"?! Excuse me, he's the Treasurer and member of the Governing Board for God's sake! "MISTAKES WILL BE MADE"?! Ah, fraud is now officially an oops. What’s "fraud" exactly? It’s the "Intentional misrepresentation or concealment of information in order to deceive or mislead." Hello?! And the judge reduced it to a traffic violation and let the perp go. What makes this incident so heinous? BL Ochman hit the nail on the head, "It's time for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) to throw Edelman PR out. Edelman clearly violated WOMMA's ethics code, not once, not twice, but for four times. Or doesn't the code mean anything?" Exactly. To her point, this judge here at least claims to be the adjudicator for the word of mouth marketing industry worldwide. Specifically, WOMMA's very mission is to: "set standards;" and "protect consumers and the industry with strong ethical guidelines." And here, right from WOMMA's Code of Ethics: "We comply with FTC regulations that state: 'When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product which might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience) such connection must be fully disclosed.'" The fact is, WOMMA didn’t... purposefully... and benefited financially.
Bottom line: An industry trade association in effect took a bribe and violated the very thing it’s committed to uphold and protect. EDELMAN-WOMMA’S LAST WORD: $10,000 Well, it seems $10,000 also buys you the last word. According to Andy Sernovitz WOMMA CEO. "WOMMA posted a public forum for transparent debate on the issue." But that's apparently now closed and Edelman's Murray got the last word, "No one is getting fired over this. We have an amazing culture, and a very empowering leadership. We don't like to make mistakes, but when we do, we try to use them as learning -- and growth -- opportunities. This is one of those opportunities. Finally, the people of Edelman are incredibly proud of their pioneering role in this space. We have every intention of learning from this experience and re-earning the trust and respect of our peers by leading the way from here on out." OUR LAST WORD: PRICELESS Mr. Murray, first, puffing your own "leadership" in this social media aside, excuse me but how can you characterize an omission in conscience and common sense as a "learning experience"? What have you learned that you apparently didn't know? What other things that naturally only require a conscience and common sense might you not know? Also, how do you expect anyone to believe that it won't happen again by maintaining the exact same people and command structure that sanctioned the program and executed on it in the first place? Anyway, moot point. Fact is, you’ve PR-ed this thing with some success. Indeed, you've spun fraud into an "opportunity." A good portion of the PR blogosphere, including WOMMA, are now looking in the mirror and seeing themselves. You scared them and secured yourself a pass. Nice work in a small dark room. Mr. Sernovitz, you should be ashamed of yourself and your organization. Bookmark This
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Wow - not even a slap on the wrist. Unbelievable.
Count me among those not satisfied: Edelman & Wal-Mart: is the apology enough?
This whole episode should not come as a surprise. All the talk of 'genuine voice' can go out the window when $$$ is at stake. Organizatons intergrity of supposed independent organizaiton can go out the window when a major benefactor needs to have their rear flank protected.
To me, that's the reality.
This seems to support the contention that WOMMA's Code of Ethics is printed on toilet paper. But I guess if you have "an amazing culture, and a very empowering leadership" (can somebody tell me what that means?), all is forgiven.
There should be PR whore houses, where those at Ketchum, Edelman and the others that do this type of stuff get sent to do penance. Guys like Rick Murray, who are full of it and full of themselves, might find the exercise very enlightening. Add Comment
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Remember, it’s not the transgression that will necessarily get you in trouble; it’s the cover up. 
So how much did it cost to buy this judge? As of the writing of this article, neither WOMMA or Edelman have responded to our inquires. But here’s what we know so far. Apparently, Edelman is a "
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